Aurangzeb tomb row: High Court grants bail to 9 accused of rioting in Nagpur

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted bail to nine persons arrested in connection with the riots in Nagpur witnessed in March this year against demands seeking removal of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.

Justice Urmila Joshi-Phalke of the Nagpur bench of the high court granted bail to the accused noting that their custody was not required any further.

A copy of the detailed order would be made available later.

Advocate Mohammad Aadil Sheikh, appearing for one of the accused, had argued that the probe in the case was complete and hence the accused should be granted bail.

The accused who have been granted bail are Iqbal Ansari, Ejaz Ansari, Absar Ansari, Izhar Ansari, Ashfaquulla Aminullah, Muzzamil Ansari, Mohammad Rahil, Mohammad Yasir and Iftekar Ansari.

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Large-scale stone pelting and arson were reported in several parts of Nagpur on 17 March after talk about a chadar with holy inscriptions being burnt during protests led by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) seeking the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb located at Khultabad town in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.

On the Nagpur violence, Maharashtra CM Fadnavis said that the effigy of Aurangzeb's tomb that was burnt had no Quranic verses on it. However, video evidence clearly shows that Hindutva outfits set fire to a chadar with religious text | @Shinjineemjmdrhttps://t.co/wDzWTa5lH2

— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) March 26, 2025

Thirty-three police personnel, including three deputy commissioner (DCP)-rank officers, were injured. More than 123 persons, including 19 juveniles, were arrested by the Nagpur police following the riots.

Aurangzeb got buried in a simple kacchi qabr as per his will.
His bones must have long interred in the soil.
The marble additions were made much later by the Nizam of Hyderabad.
It will not affect Aurangzeb whether you remove the marble railings or not.
It's too late to remove…

— Rana Safvi رعنا राना (@iamrana) March 18, 2025

PTI inputs edited for language

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